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Topic: Chiang Mai eyed for F1 track (Read 2888 times)

Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa will propose the construction of a Formula One race-track on land close to the site used for the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011 in Chiang Mai.

Mr Chumpol on Thursday said his ministry would conduct a feasibility study on building an F1 circuit near the Royal Park Ratchapruek in tambon Mae Hia of Muang district, which is used to host the annual international horticulture exhibition, in the hope of bringing one of the world’s most popular and lucrative sporting events to Thailand.

Chiang Mai had been selected for the project because the ministry aimed to make optimum use of the property surrounding the flora expo site, which generated revenue for the Highland Research and Development Institute (Public Organisation) - a state enterprise that supports research and development of royal projects in highland areas in the North.

The selected site had good road conditions and was located far from residential areas, he said.

“Chiang Mai has vast areas to build grandstands [for the F1 track] and a rich natural environment. It has a good selling point,” the minister said.

Without warning, public debate or even the known backing of the government, Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa has been making minor headlines. Mr Chumpol, one of the "coalition" members of the Pheu Thai government, has been abroad. He has had talks with personalities including the Formula One racing tycoon Bernie Ecclestone.

Suddenly, Mr Chumpol has come up with the idea of having an actual F1 auto race in Chiang Mai in 2014.

It's true that this curious proposal falls under Mr Chumpol's brief. F1 is known technically as a sport. All of its participants and most of its fans are tourists. Beyond that, it is difficult to credit the minister's scheme. He wants to commit an unstated amount of taxpayers' money, and has already spent public funds promoting the idea.

For the race, he proposes to use the lovely gardens of Royal Park Ratchapruek in Chiang Mai province for what could be a noisy and polluting race, in late 2014.

Is there something missing in his plan? Well, yes.

F1 racing is a business, and Mr Chumpol has glossed over the support he has received from the private sector, which so far appears to range somewhere between little and none.

He has forgotten to mention the budget which he has cleared with the prime minister and cabinet colleagues. And he also has forgotten to ask the country how much it supports investing in a single event which will undoubtedly create massive profits for the foreign firms involved. When projects like this are proposed, glib spin doctors are quick to point out the publicity the country would get.

The truth is that a F1 race would gather approximately no positive news. Tourists would certainly appear for the race, which could be a windfall weekend. But Chiang Mai, near the year's end, is already a tourist destination.

Comparisons are never exact, but the bid to hold a F1 race inevitably recalls the strange and expensive bid for the Bangkok Olympics. That resounding failure was an early project by brand new prime minister at the time Thaksin Shinawatra.

No one is certain how many tens of millions of baht were shunted from legitimate projects to the hare-brained notion that Bangkok could secure the 2008 Olympics. The public was relieved when the International Olympic Committee threw out the bid the first chance it got.

A F1 race is certainly different in many ways from the Olympics. But Mr Chumpol's bid to host a F1 race is the same as the ridiculous Olympics bid in one, dangerous way. It is yet another scheme which has almost no advantage for the country, yet seeks to milk millions from the national treasury.

An F1 is still an "F", for fail. If Thailand were a true candidate for a F1 track race, not a satang of taxpayers' money would be needed - or, rather, risked. By pouring public funds into this limited and controversial project, Mr Chumpol and colleagues are spending money that isn't theirs on a big party that has virtually no advantages for the country. If F1 has a future in Thailand, the private sector can handle it and Mr Chumpol's tourist drives will benefit, instead of vice versa. The money he would invest in a car race would be better spent on the citizens of Thailand.

“No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have searched the record for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.” - H L Mencken

That commentary from the Bangkok Post is spot-on. What a ridiculous hair-brained idea. I have yet to meet a Thai with any interest in F1: it is a publicity machine for Ferrari, Maclaren, Mercedes et al and I am sure serves them well in Europe, the Middle East and Brazil. Elsewhere its value is less clear. There has never been a successful Asian F1 driver: the Japanese have come closest. Why would Thailand want or need to spend billions of Baht on this? If all you have is oil and sand then the glamour of F1 is a worthwhile investment to drag tourists to your country. For Thailand, its a pointless exercise. If this minister is serious he needs to encourage grass roots motor sport in Thailand to try and get some Thai nationals competing at the higher levels of motor sport internationally. If Thais begin to support a motorsport national hero then the prospect of a race might make sense.

Perhaps this politician should invest time and effort investigating the merits of bidding for the football World Cup. Now there's something many locals would love to see hosted in Thailand, and which would have planeloads of avid football fans winging their way and happy to pour foreign currency into the nations coffers. It would also leave a legacy of high standard stadiums in every major city and be a real investment in the country's sporting future.

Lebowski

It a ridiculous idea as Thailand is completely unsuitable and agree with the comments above. Not to mention, can you imagine this lot trying to sort a an F1 track and stadium plus everything else needed?

It would be a feeding frenzy and cost way over budget with every little small time crook/governor trying for his slice of the action whilst returning little compared to expenditure and the real winners would be the car manufacturers that participate in the circus.

They can't even renew the train lines from BBK to Korat to bring it into the 20th century.

Pure Disneyland thinking here, it'll never happen.

Better that Thailand stick with what it know best to attract tourists.....and I'll leave that one there.

According to Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa, Ecclestone has agreed for Thailand to host a race in 2014. He said it would be a night race and that Ecclestone wanted it to take place in Bangkok.

The government would shoulder 60 per cent of the total cost and the rest would be paid by private companies such as Red Bull and Singha, he said. However, further talks are needed to finalise details, officials said.

Suwat Sidthilaw, permanent secretary to the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said a Formula One race would help boost the country's tourism.

"It would be a challenging task for Thailand. It may not be easy for Thailand to host a race. There may be several problems to solve before Thailand hosts a race such as noise pollution," he said.

A high-ranking SAT official said it may not be possible to organise a race in Bangkok where there are a lot of buildings and sacred places.

Also the ministry should ask Bangkok residents if they want a Formula One race, said the official, who asked not to be named.

"It would not be easy to host a race in Bangkok. We may need a public hearing to make sure that Bangkok residents agree with the idea," he said.

"A large number of Bangkok residents care more about how to make a living and are not devout Formula One fans."

The official said that a possible way was to organise a race in other areas such as Pattaya in Chon Buri.

The government earlier said the venue could be Bangkok's Ratchadamnoen Avenue, Chiang Mai or Chon Buri.

The idea of Ratchadamnoen Avenue hosting a Grand Prix race was initiated by Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanuban _ better known as Prince Bira _ the country's first and only Grand Prix winner.

He planned to close roads in the Sanam Luang and Ratchadamnoen areas in 1939 for a Bangkok Grand Prix but his dream was dashed when World War II broke out.

In 2010, more than 100,000 people watched Thailand's first ever exhibition of Formula One driving on Ratchadamnoen Avenue.

Red Bull's Mark Webber drove his car for four laps from Phan Fa Bridge to the Khok Wua intersection.

Formula One Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone revealed that the 2015 Grand Prix calendar will feature a night race on the streets of Bangkok.

Speculation about a Formula One race in Thailand had grown since championship-winner Red Bull Racing carried out a demonstration run through the streets of the nation's capital in December 2010.

Then in October, Kanokphand Chulakasem, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, seemed to confirm the rumors by saying the country would host a race in 2014. He added at the time that he was "working closely with F1 officials to look for the best site."

Ecclestone said that the location has now been chosen, and specified that the race would come a year later.

"They say 2014 and I say 2015. It is serious and it is good," he added.

The annual fee for hosting an F1 race is $27 million and it is understood that the government of Thailand would foot around 60% of the bill. The rest is set to come from local companies such as the Thai brewer Singha and from Red Bull, the energy-drink maker.

Ecclestone said that the race is backed by Chalerm Yoovidhya, the fourth-richest man in Thailand through his 51% stake in Red Bull.

The addition of this Grand Prix increases pressure on the sport's crowded calendar. There are already 20 races slated for 2013 with Russia and New Jersey set to join in 2014. The number of races is restricted to 20 by the Concorde Agreement, the contract that commits F1's 11 teams to race. They object to adding more races due to increased transport costs and the added time staff would have to spend on the road.

Under the agreement, only a consensus from the teams can cause the schedule to expand beyond 20 races or if over 60% of them are outside the sport's traditional markets of Europe, the U.S. or Canada.

The calendar is currently evenly split with 10 races held in these three regions and 10 outside. So unless the teams agree to increase the limit on the number of races, the introduction of Thailand is likely to come at the expense of a race from the sport's historic heartland.

Politician-turned-football club owner Newin Chidchob plans to construct a Formula One racetrack worth about two billion baht in his hometown Buri Ram, Thai Rath reported on Thursday.

The president of Buriram United, dubbed ‘Thunder castle’, has contacted Hermann Tilke, the founder of Tilke Engineers & Architects that has built dozens of racetracks worldwide and renovated several others, to discuss the planned construction, Thai Rath reported, quoting a source at the club.

The source said Mr Newin, besides being a football lover, was also a big fan of motor sports and he wanted Thailand to have an international-standard racetrack certified by the global motor racing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), that could be used for staging Formula One -- the top class of world motor car racing.

The two-billion baht track is expected to be completed by the end of next year. It will be built on a 500-rai plot near the club’s i-Mobile stadium in the northeastern province.

The source said the circuit would initially host Formula 3 series events once completed and endorsed by the FIA. More tracks would be built later to support F1 racing. Mr Newin also planned to build a racing academy and a motocross racetrack on the premises.

Bangkok has inched another step closer to hosting a Formula 1 race in Thailand after the approval of a track route in the old part of the capital. But does the city have the infrastructure to host an event of this size?

We have documented Bangkok’s bid to host a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship since the first concrete rumors emerged in early 2012, fueled by strong financial backers such as the energy drink maker and world championship winning F1 team owners Red Bull. Speaking of costs, we then looked at the potential costs to Thailand and the city to host a race weekend in the middle of the city the bill came in at about estimated to be around $40m, not including the cost of the venue itself.

What has been noticeable in this story is how vocal the Thai organizers have been – going ahead with the announcement last October that the Grand Prix is as good as a “done deal” – and the silence of the governing body Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the promoting Formula One Management (FOM), headed by Bernie Ecclestone, who normally don’t like when local organizers jump the gun. Despite all that, F1 supremo Ecclestone gave the Thailand Grand Prix his blessing, aiming for an appearance on the 2015 calendar.

It would be the third race in Southeast Asia, with Sepang in Malaysia and Singapore being the other two. Singapore is currently also the host of the only night race on the calendar.

Local organizers have long expressed their desire to have Formula 1 cars race in the streets of Bangkok at night. Last Friday, the Sports Authority of Thailand announced that it has now finalized the track layout, and here it is:

The almost 6km-long city street circuit is essentially an extended and updated version of the planned track route for the 1939 Bangkok Grand Prix, which was cancelled due to World War II. It features 12 c0rners (seven right, five left), and typical for a street course many of these are 90 degree turns. The course will lead drivers past many iconic landmarks in the old downtown part of Bangkok such as Wat Phra Kaew, Sanam Luang, (to a certain extent) Khao Sarn Road, around Democracy Monument and most impressive of all it will go right around the Grand Palace.

The almost 6km-long city street circuit is essentially an extended and updated version of the planned track route for the 1939 Bangkok Grand Prix, which was cancelled due to World War II. It features 12 c0rners (seven right, five left), and typical for a street course many of these are 90 degree turns. The course will lead drivers past many iconic landmarks in the old downtown part of Bangkok such as Wat Phra Kaew, Sanam Luang, (to a certain extent) Khao Sarn Road, around Democracy Monument and most impressive of all it will go right around the Grand Palace.

The route would give spectators and TV viewers the chance to see several tourist spots such as the Grand Palace, Victory Monument and Temple of Dawn, [Kanokphand Chulakasem, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand] said.

Makeshift stands could be built in several areas along the route and would be able to accommodate about 150,000 people, according to the governor.

“As the starting and finishing point would be on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, we may be able to build the main stands in the river. It would also be convenient for transportation of equipment,” he said.

State officials and community leaders concerned about damage to historic areas in Rattanakosin if event is staged in 2015

Thailand's bid to stage the Formula One race in 2015 might encounter some bumps from the very outset as there is mounting opposition from concerned agencies and communities to the proposed idea.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the Committee for Conservation and Development of Krung Rattanakosin and Old Towns, as well as community leaders within Rattanakosin Island where the race is proposed to take place, have expressed their disapproval to hosting an F1 race in the city.

Concerns about the impact of the race, proposed to be held at night in March 2015, on ancient sites and significant landmarks abundant in the old town vicinity, including the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Democracy Monument, the resultant noise pollution and heavy traffic have triggered negative reactions.

The initiative to bid for an F1 circuit in the heart of Bangkok came from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and Red Bull, following a successful driving exhibition by F1 star Mark Webber of Red Bull on Rajdamnoen Avenue in 2010, which drew huge attention from audiences.

A proposal to stage the F1 has been prepared since last year and according to SAT governor Kanokphand Chulakasem, this master plan is nearly complete for submission to the Cabinet, which will decide whether the Kingdom should host the US$225 million (Bt6.75 billion) event. Even if the government, which will have to shell out 60 per cent of the event budget, backs the idea, a final nod will still depend on the BMA and its governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra whether to permit the race on its territory.

"I'm quite concerned about the idea, and disagree with using Rattanakosin Island areas for motor racing because I'm afraid there could be some impact on ancient sites due to the loud noise and vibration. We have to verify whether these sites on the routes would be affected by the race," said a key BMA official.

Last week, BMA representatives from the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, Traffic and Transportation Department and Department of City Planning were informed about the primary idea to host the F1 by the preparation committee. According to sources, the committee was asked to reconsider the race routes due to BMA regulations, orders and other laws, which restrict the use and the organisation of sporting events within and around Rattanakosin Island, which is a conservation area where motor racing is prohibited.

Closure of roads will be inevitable to allow surface adjustments, the installation and construction of concrete barriers, fences, cables, pits, stands etc. That directly involves the Committee for Conservation and Development of Krung Rattanakosin and Old Towns as it is the unit that will have to authorise these constructions.

"A detailed blueprint, along with the effects on the environment, must be submitted to us if any government agency has a plan to build or modify any routes or have any activities within the Rattanakosin areas," said Niramol Maneekum, the director of Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Section Environmental Conservation of the Natural and Cultural Heritage Division, who is also a secretary of the committee.

"As the Old City areas are protected under the Prime Minister's Office regulations and many cabinet resolutions, the private sector is ineligible to modify routes and stage activities for the F1 race within the Rattanakosin area," added Niramol, a member of the committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Phongthep Thepkanjana.

The Rattanakosin inbound, surrounded by Chao Praya River and moats, features several significant historic places more than a hundred years old such as the Grand Palace, the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall, Bowonnivet Vihara Temple, which are highly sensitive to vibration, according to Niramol.

"So far, the government has been very strict on traffic congestion and reduction of vibration in the area. It is forbidden to construct a high-rise building or have a high billboard installed. The question is: "Is it appropriate to let this motor racing happen in the area?" asked Niramol, who also questioned if BMA would be responsible for consequences if this project was approved.

Another committee member, Manit Siriwan, suggested that proof should be presented to guarantee there would be no impacts on the ancient sites and the Fine Arts Department, in charge of ancient places in Rattanakosin, should play a key role in deliberating this issue.

Community people will be among those directly affected if Thailand is to host its first-ever F1 race. Preparation work will surely aggravate the already severe traffic situation in the Rattanakosin area caused by the construction of the Skytrain Blue Line. Not to mention a possible exposure to up to 147 decibels (dB) of a Formula-1 race car at full throttle driving by. An exposure to 85dB is already dangerous to human ears.

The plan to bring Formula One to Thailand has not yet been shelved as concerned parties are still looking for a venue for a possible race in 2015.

The country's first ever Formula One race was initially proposed to take place in Bangkok but it was hit by a legal barrier which bans auto racing within the inner city, dashing the plan earlier this year.

There were rumours that the plan had been scrapped but the Sports Authority of Thailand's (SAT) Kanokphand Chulakseam insisted stakeholders were still working hard to bring Formula One to Thailand.

Several places have been mentioned as possible venues, including Phuket.

Michael de Santiesteban, vice chairman of Formula One Grand Prix of Thailand, said a Phuket deal had not yet been made.

"Phuket and Cha Am in Phetchaburi have all been thrown around," said Santiesteban, who has played a key role in Thailand's attempts to host a race.

"There are so many speculations. At the end of the day, it is not a decision that we alone can make. It is a decision that in the end lies with [Formula One CEO] Bernie Ecclestone.

"There are so many little details that go into a race such as hospitals being a certain distance, a certain amount of hotel rooms and infrastructure in terms of getting people in and out."

It was reported that Ecclestone had given the green light for Thailand to organise its first Formula One race in 2015. However, it is unclear if Thailand is still on the 2015 list after the Bangkok obstacle.

Santiesteban said the project was massive but an effort which was worth taking because of the potential exposure the country would gain.

The SAT is currently developing a financial model for the event that would use a mixture of government and private sector funds, similar to that used for the Singapore Grand Prix.